To much build up pressure in coolant system!
Well I pulled the head! And it looks like for the first time on my engine by the looks of the stamped steel head gasket. Unfortunately though, I did not find an obvious problem that could have led to what happened a couple days ago. The head gasket is still very much intact. So, I'll show the pictures of what I got and what I found and hopefully I can find a conclusion. The head is going to the machine shop to get hot tanked and pressure tested for any cracks.
(Just to note here, the coolant in #4 I believe is what pour out from the head when we lifted it off). So here's the block and pistons. Typical carbon build up on the tops. From the passageways, the top triangular one in between #3 and #4 looked like a lot of hard crusty carbon build up, as well as the big circular passageways next to #6 and #1. Also on #2, there seems to be a pretty bad blockage of some sorts? You can see it better in the next picture. I tried looking close but I couldn't find any real cracks in between the cylinders or passageways. Then again, it is dirty so I will gently try to clean the surface to see if I can find anything.
Close up of the cylinder walls of #1-#3. Lots of varnish on the tops but I assume that's pretty normal? Other than that the cylinder walls look very clean. There's the "plugged passage" mentioned earlier on top of #2. What are those passageways for?
The cylinder head. There looks like there is some moisture on the exhaust valves? They were all pretty dry when I took the head off. Are the white exhaust valves normal engine operation? Again, I couldn't see any cracks but it is very dirty. This will be headed out to the machine shop to get cleaned up and tested. And just to put it out there, I've never really taken the head off an engine so I am not totally sure what is normal and what is not. If something looks abnormal then I can take a closer look.
The tops of #6-#3 for a closer look. Some buildup in the coolant passage of #3.
The head gasket. I think it's original because I saw a little pentastar on the bottom of it and it's stamped steel. No breaks anywhere on it, which only means the mystery to find something wrong only goes further.
The freeze plugs. Now this is where I found something a little abnormal. The day before the coolant blew out I noticed a very small leak coming from the second from the left plug. This was very new looking as I've never noticed a leak and it did not look like it was there for long at all. Now when I took the manifolds off, I noticed that it was not as flush as all the others, as a side of it was up a little more. It was also void of all paint and looked like it was getting pretty hot. Maybe from the exhaust manifold? I never noticed it like this before however. So I popped it out and it said it was an 'EZ' plug. The top was some sort of metal but the inside was rubber. Obviously these all but one are not the original brass freeze plugs. I intend to replace them but was this my problem? Or did it simply 'pop' out due to the excess pressure in my cooling system? Note how green the coolant is in the plug, because this is what I found in my overflow tank....
I also spun my water pump to see if it spun. It spun freely and sounded like it was moving what coolant was left in the block. I just replaced the water pump a little under a year ago, however I'm confused as to why i have such different colors in my coolant. Is there just a blockage somewhere? Still doesn't explain the white smoke out of the tailpipe though. I'll keep looking, I appreciate the help.
Well I pulled the head! And it looks like for the first time on my engine by the looks of the stamped steel head gasket. Unfortunately though, I did not find an obvious problem that could have led to what happened a couple days ago. The head gasket is still very much intact. So, I'll show the pictures of what I got and what I found and hopefully I can find a conclusion. The head is going to the machine shop to get hot tanked and pressure tested for any cracks.
(Just to note here, the coolant in #4 I believe is what pour out from the head when we lifted it off). So here's the block and pistons. Typical carbon build up on the tops. From the passageways, the top triangular one in between #3 and #4 looked like a lot of hard crusty carbon build up, as well as the big circular passageways next to #6 and #1. Also on #2, there seems to be a pretty bad blockage of some sorts? You can see it better in the next picture. I tried looking close but I couldn't find any real cracks in between the cylinders or passageways. Then again, it is dirty so I will gently try to clean the surface to see if I can find anything.
Close up of the cylinder walls of #1-#3. Lots of varnish on the tops but I assume that's pretty normal? Other than that the cylinder walls look very clean. There's the "plugged passage" mentioned earlier on top of #2. What are those passageways for?
The cylinder head. There looks like there is some moisture on the exhaust valves? They were all pretty dry when I took the head off. Are the white exhaust valves normal engine operation? Again, I couldn't see any cracks but it is very dirty. This will be headed out to the machine shop to get cleaned up and tested. And just to put it out there, I've never really taken the head off an engine so I am not totally sure what is normal and what is not. If something looks abnormal then I can take a closer look.
The tops of #6-#3 for a closer look. Some buildup in the coolant passage of #3.
The head gasket. I think it's original because I saw a little pentastar on the bottom of it and it's stamped steel. No breaks anywhere on it, which only means the mystery to find something wrong only goes further.
The freeze plugs. Now this is where I found something a little abnormal. The day before the coolant blew out I noticed a very small leak coming from the second from the left plug. This was very new looking as I've never noticed a leak and it did not look like it was there for long at all. Now when I took the manifolds off, I noticed that it was not as flush as all the others, as a side of it was up a little more. It was also void of all paint and looked like it was getting pretty hot. Maybe from the exhaust manifold? I never noticed it like this before however. So I popped it out and it said it was an 'EZ' plug. The top was some sort of metal but the inside was rubber. Obviously these all but one are not the original brass freeze plugs. I intend to replace them but was this my problem? Or did it simply 'pop' out due to the excess pressure in my cooling system? Note how green the coolant is in the plug, because this is what I found in my overflow tank....
I also spun my water pump to see if it spun. It spun freely and sounded like it was moving what coolant was left in the block. I just replaced the water pump a little under a year ago, however I'm confused as to why i have such different colors in my coolant. Is there just a blockage somewhere? Still doesn't explain the white smoke out of the tailpipe though. I'll keep looking, I appreciate the help.
